Halt's nightmare
by Lora Kael
Summary: Evanlyn is exposed for who she really is in Skandia and Halt watch as his worst nightmare comes to pass. But there is still a battle looming and no time for mourning.


**Halt's nightmare**

Disclaimer: I make no money from this, just enjoyment at storytelling. Please review after reading.

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Evanlyn had been exposed. It was something they knew had been a risk all along, but it had happened at the worst possible moment, only days before the battle would take place.

Halt's mind was churning with ideas and possibilities to figure out a way out of this mess. He knew Ragnak wouldn't want to lose him as an advisor or battleplaner, no matter how much he expounded on the qualities and skills of the Skandians, and neither would he want a conflict with Erak, so he felt it should be possible to find a solution, even if only temporary, to the predicament they were now in.

He eyed Slagor, that disgusting, dishonest creep of a Skandian, and had to control the urge to put an arrow between his eyes. Slagor's time would come. For now he needed to make sure Evanlyn's didn't.

"You must kill her, Ragnak! The Vallas demand it!"

Ragnak bristled. "You don't tell me what to do, Slagor!"

Slagor retreated a step as he realised he had gone too far.

Good, Halt thought. He's already unpopular, let him make himself more unpopular.

Ragnak had risen from his chair and stood only a few meters from Evanlyn. Halt felt more than saw Will and Horace tense. The boys were ready for action, but Halt knew it would end poorly for them if they got into a fight with the Oberjarl right here in the heart of Hallasholm, so he wanted to avoid a conflict with him at all cost. Or almost all cost, at least.

Slagor wasn't completely done, however.

"Oberjarl, you made a deal with the Vallas. They are trying to trick you into not keeping it." He pointed an accusing finger at Halt and the others.

Halt spread his hands in an innocent gesture. "No trick, just practicalities. We have a battle to fight first, then we can always settle our differences afterward."

Erak and the other two senior jarls nodded.

"We need all the fighting men we can get, Oberjarl," Jarl Lorak said.

Ragnak nodded, but he still looked troubled. He didn't want a fight with Halt or Erak and certainly not right now, but he couldn't ignore his vow either. Halt opened his mouth to say more to persuade Ragnak when Slagor played his last card.

"If you will not fulfil your vow, then I will have to!" he declared. "Otherwise the Vallas might punish us all in the battle!"

That caused a jerk to go through Ragnak. He could risk his own life, but not the anger of the Vallas directed at his people.

Halt realised that things were going wrong just as Ragnak moved; it was as if time slowed down and he couldn't react fast enough to prevent the catastrophe from happening. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Horace move and reach for his sword, but Will was faster. He realised that Will had simply been waiting for something to happen, taught as a coil and ready to spring into action.

Will's saxe knife flew through the air, but it went past Ragnak and instead it buried itself in Slagor's forehead, killing him instantly. But Will didn't wait for the knife to hit. He stepped in front of Evanlyn his throwing knife in his hand.

Halt tried to yell a warning, to get him away, but Ragnak's battleaxe was already going through the air as Will sent his little knife into his heart.

"Will!" The shout came from Halt and Horace simultaneously. Evanlyn screamed.

As Will's knife sank into Ragnak's chest he stumbled and fell to his knees, but the axe continued its path and hit Will, who was standing in its way in front of Evanlyn.

The sheer force of the blow forced Will to his knees as it hammered into his shoulder and chest, biting deep into his flesh.

Halt rushed forward, catching Will before his head could hit the floor. At the same time he saw the light go out in the Oberjarl's eyes as he fell down and he knew he was gone.

"Hang on, Will," he told him as he lowered him into his lap and cursed himself for leaving his medical supplies in the room the Skandians had given him.

Erak knelt down by Ragnak. "He's gone. Died like a warrior." The last he directed to the other jarls present, who looked somewhat shocked at the turn of event, and how fast it had all happened. A minute ago they had all still been allies, now three of them were dead.

He looked over at Will, who was gasping from pain and going pale from blood loss, even though Halt, Horace, and Evanlyn were trying to stem the flow.

Halt continued to speak soothingly to Will, though he knew it was bad. And even if he survived the Skandians would kill him for killing the Oberjarl. He could see no way out of this for Will.

Suddenly Erak turned to Will, drew his saxe and slammed it into his palm, closing his fingers around it. Halt just had time to tense up as Erak drew the knife, but then realised he wasn't going to hurt him. He was simply following the Skandian tradition and belief that said that no warrior should die without a weapon in his hand or his soul would wander forever lost.

"Halt..." Will's voice was barely a whisper.

Halt grabbed Will's free hand and squished it. "I'm here, Will."

"Sorry... I wasn't... fast... enough," he said weakly.

Halt shook his head. "You were faster than me," he replied.

But Will didn't hear it. His eyes looked at Halt unseeing.

Evanlyn was sobbing and Horace stared at his friend in shocked disbelief, but Halt couldn't do anything for them right now; he couldn't look away from his apprentice, whose life had been cut short. This wasn't right. It should have been him, not Will.

Erak sighed deeply. "He died like a true warrior, protecting the one he promised to keep safe." He looked at the sobbing Evanlyn, then at the other jarls. "I think enough people have died here today. The boy chose to defend the princess and trade his life for hers. He and Ragnak have both paid the price for their vows." He didn't bother mentioning Slagor, who didn't make vows or had had any honour to begin with as far as Erak was concerned.

The other jarls nodded slowly. They knew the death of Ragnak and Will would hit them badly with the battle only days away, and that they could not afford to lose anyone else. Erak gave them a single nod in return, sure they wouldn't start a fight with the remaining Araluans.

"We'll give them both a proper funeral," he said directed at Halt.

Halt looked up and met Erak's eyes. Erak was the battle chief and he sought confirmation that Halt would still fight for and with them. Halt forced himself to focus on the task at hand though it was difficult when he could still feel the weight and warmth of Will. He nodded.

"Yes. But for now we need to finish our preparations for the battle." He narrowed his eyes as he looked at the still form of Slagor a few meters away. "And to find out just what that treasonous snake was up to."

Erak nodded in agreement as he glanced over his shoulder. Then his eyes fell on the Oberjarl's hilfmann.

"Borsa. You go with me to see it there is really a force of Temujai waiting down the coast for Slagor. You will be our witness."

Halt was about to protest and say he would go, too, when Erak turned to him. "Halt, you'll have to take over the archers; you're the only one who can do it now."

Halt closed his mouth again. He knew Erak was right and he knew how important the archer force would be. He gave Erak a quick nod. "I'll keep things running here. You see if you can find those Temujai and perhaps leave them somewhere unpleasant."

Erak smiled grimly. "I'll do that," he promised.

§

There was no time for mourning; Erak and the senior jarls, Lorak and Ulfak, made sure that all of Slagor's men were held back while Erak and his team investigated Slagor's treason, and two of Erak's ships sailed out to intercept Slagor's other ships already at sea.

And Halt had just gotten an additional job to add to his already long list; he now had to train the archers to follow his orders instead of Will's and the archers seemed to be in shock from the news that had quickly spread around Hallasholm. Halt had to restrain himself not to yell at them, knowing it wouldn't do any good. He couldn't offer any solace to Horace and Evanlyn, who had to rely on each other, because Halt's own pain and sorrow was far too raw to be of any help to anyone. He simply worked with a grim determination, drilling the archers and Skandians, checking the battle site, and only showing a brief, grim smile when Erak returned and told him they had found the 150 Temujai and had left them on an island where they couldn't come back and join the main Temujai force from.

He couldn't even shed a tear when Will was burned on a Skandian funeral pyre, while Evanlyn was sobbing uncontrollably and hugging Horace for comfort, who had tears running silently down his cheeks, because he knew that if he started crying he might not be able to pick himself back up again in time. So he simply held it all down and buried it deep inside himself along with the pain of his brother's treachery and all those other old wounds.

As far as he was concerned this was partly his fault and partly the Temujai's fault; they had made it impossible for them to leave Skandia again. So he turned all the hurt, anger, sorrow and pain into a cold rage directed towards the Temujai force and kept firing arrow after arrow almost non-stop at the battle, killing as many Temujai as the rest of the archers combined. He kept shooting until there was no more arrows to shoot, despite having had extra arrows made in the past days. And then he fought on with his knives as the battle line was broken, and he and Horace was suddenly in the midst of the battle, fighting back to back, and that feeling of wrongness still lingered, because it was Will, who should have been here, not him.

In the end the Temujai commander decided the losses they had sustained were too heavy and called the retreat. It had been a bloody battle and the Skandian force had been seriously cut down and only about a dozen archers remained alive and even fewer unharmed. By some miracle neither Horace nor Evanlyn had gotten seriously hurt, and Halt himself only had minor wounds, too. At least he had succeeded in protecting the other two youth, but it was a small comfort after failing his apprentice.

Erak's wounds were worse, but he was rushed to the healers, and Halt felt sure the burly Skandian would survive.

"Halt..." Horace approached him, looking a bit hesitant, which was no wonder after Halt's grim silence and sharp commands of the last few days.

Halt met his eyes and waited for what it was the boy wanted to say, but wasn't prepared when Horace said: "Will would have been proud of you."

After a moment of shocked silence, Halt gave a nod towards Horace. "And he would have been proud of you." Then he turned away and hurried along before the tears threatening to come could spill. He saw Evanlyn out of the corner of his eye, but didn't give her a chance to approach him. Horace would have to deal with her for now.

Halt hid himself in his quarters. Now that the tension of the battle and all the planing was leaving, he could hold it back no longer. It came as little tremors raking his body at first, then greater shudders as the tears came and the pain was finally let out. He had failed his apprentice, but at least he had fulfilled his duty by protecting Cassandra and Horace, and he would make sure they both came back to Araluen safe and sound. That would be his final duty to Will.

Will! Halt crumbled in a heap on the floor, sorrow overtaking him. He had failed him twice. Sobs raked his body as he let all the self-blame out. He had been too slow, had missed the signs of danger, had lead them all into this situation. And he had failed his apprentice. I'll never take another apprentice, he thought. I'll never let another get into a situation like this ever again.

The pain in his chest continued to grow and grow until it felt like his heart might burst from sorrow. It was unbearable. It was constricting his breath. It was –

§

Halt woke suddenly. Everything was dark and quiet, but he was out of breath and his chest hurt. Will! Was he all right? Was he dead? He didn't know, but he knew he would not find peace until he found out.

He slipped out of bed and tiptoed out of his room and towards the one he knew had been assigned to Will. He laid an ear on the door, but couldn't hear anything through the heavy pine wood. Taking a deep breath, he steadied his heart and pulse, before he very carefully and very, very slowly opened the door to Will's room.

The room was dark, too, of course, and Halt opened the door just enough to slip through the crack, making sure not to make any noise. He carefully stepped over the creaking floorboard as he approached the bed. Then he froze as he heard a quiet sigh and his heart leapt of joy. Will was alive and sleeping peacefully in his bed! He could see his outline now in the dim light coming from the window and knew there was no way he could mistake that slim form for anyone else.

A silent tear of relief made its way down his cheek and he quickly and quietly left the room again, making sure not to wake Will.

As he came back to his own room a small sob escaped him, but it was one of relief and joy of seeing his apprentice alive and well. After the terrible nightmare, which had shown him his worst fear of the past weeks and year, he finally cried the tears of relief knowing it was all over now. Ragnak was dead and Erak had promised to take them all back to Araluen once the new Oberjarl had been elected. Everything would be all right now.

§

When the morning came Will didn't understand why Halt looked so tired and happy to see him, or why he patted him on the shoulder as he placed a cup of coffee in front of him, but he just smiled in return and gratefully accepted the coffee. There could be nothing better than to be Halt's apprentice.


End file.
